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The basic rights of older persons to adequate health care have been breached in a number of ways during the COVID-19 pandemic including inability to get access to testing and treatment for the virus (e.g., older persons with symptoms of the virus were turned away from hospitals and other care providers and were not transferred from care homes to hospitals when greater levels of care were required following infection), lack of health or other information relating to the pandemic and exclusion from access to scarce medical resources and participation in clinical trials based on their age. Restrictions imposed during the pandemic often included suspension of care and support services that older persons had previously been able to access in their homes and communities. For example, residents and staff members in long-term care facilities were unable to access to personal protective equipment, testing and general information about the pandemic, all of which led to catastrophically bad health outcomes in those facilities. In addition, long periods of isolation due to distancing restrictions imposed during the pandemic exacerbated the adverse impacts of underlying health conditions common among older persons. Many older persons died alone, without palliative and end of life care.

Background: Mexican schools closed down in-person operations due to COVID-19 from March 2020 to February 2021. According to World Bank models, this implies a loss of 0.9 years of schooling. We set forth to design a COVID-19 safe return to school program specially adapted for both low national SARS-CoV-2 testing levels and a virtually non-existent school children vaccination scheme. Methods: The Community Program for a Safe Return encompassed five strategies: i) Community Surveillance (SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR testing of a community); ii) COVID-19 Education; iii) Hybrid Learning Strategy (dividing a classroom into two weekly-alternating groups of in-person schooling; iv) Layered Protection (health-status questionnaire, body-temperature control, mandatory facemasks, increased classroom ventilation, physical distancing and routine disinfection of classrooms) and; v) Virus Surveillance (weekly RT-qPCR testing of students and staff). Findings: A pilot program was implemented in a community of San Luis Potosi having a SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate below 5%. Negative SARS-CoV-2 test results were maintained in both children and staff throughout the study period. Interpretation Both WHO and CDC have emphasized the priority of in-person learning for students. Our program proved capable of providing a COVID-19 safe return to school and had an additional, unexpected, benefit of increasing community awareness and increased suspect-case surveillance. Such community involvement allowed for tailored adaptations of school attendance to be made, a strategy that proved to be both economically and epidemiologically feasible for resource limited settings. Funding: This study was supported by COPOCYT-CEEPAC/CTF/136/2020, FID 18397 Declaration of Interest: We declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: Our study was reviewed and authorized by the State Health Ministry Committee of Bioethics (SLP/07/2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic has largely disrupted the way of retailing. Retailers with only brick-mortar are forced to adopt online mode to sustain their business, while online retailers started equipping them with sophisticated smart technologies like AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning), etc. to attract, engage and transact with their customers. This paper enumerates few use cases of technologies in the retailing sector during the COVID-19 crisis. Online impulse buying is generating a good chunk of revenue, and all the retailers are making effort to lure customers for impulse buying. Due to lockdown and physical distancing people, started buying more on e-commerce portals and so the importance of impulse buying also heightened for the retailers. This paper also focuses on market trends that may intensify the role of technologies in retailing post-COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The fear of potential new strains of the virus is posing uncertainty about the rebounding of the economy and changes in the preferences of the individual. To combat these challenges technology is expected to play a vital role. The various advantages and challenges/barriers of probable technology adoption in the retail sector are also discussed. This paper will add to the literature of online retailing and give practical insights to the retailers in adopting adequate technology.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of mandatory face mask usage triggered a heated debate. A major point of controversy is whether community use of masks creates a false sense of security that would diminish physical distancing, counteracting any potential direct benefit from masking. We conducted a randomized field experiment in Berlin, Germany, to investigate how masks affect distancing and whether the mask effect interacts with the introduction of an indoor mask mandate. Joining waiting lines in front of stores, we measured distances kept from the experimenter in two treatment conditions – the experimenter wore a mask in one and no face covering in the other – in two time spans – before and after mask use becoming mandatory in stores. We find no evidence that mandatory masking has a negative effect on distance kept toward a masked person. To the contrary, masks significantly increase distancing and the effect does not differ between the two periods. However, we show that after the mandate distances are shorter in locations where more non-essential stores, which were closed before the mandate, had reopened. We argue that the relaxations in general restrictions that coincided with the mask mandate led individuals to reduce other precautions, like keeping a safe distance.

Background: The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused global transmission, and been spread all over the world. For those regions that are currently free of infected cases, it is an urgent issue to prevent and control the local outbreak of COVID-19 when there are sporadic cases. We aimed to evaluate the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as isolation, contact tracing, and physical distancing, against local transmission of COVID-19, and to forecast the epidemic dynamics after local outbreak of diseases under different control measures. Methods: For this computational modelling study, we developed an individual-based model (IBM) to simulate the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 from a microscopic perspective of individual-to-individual contacts and heterogenous among individuals. We simulated the effects of different levels of non-pharmaceutical interventions in controlling disease transmission after the appearance of sporadic cases. Through model simulations, we discussed the epidemic dynamics and evaluated the conditions of initiating different level responses in order to achieve better controls of the local transmission. Findings: Model simulations shown that isolation of infected cases and quarantine of close contacts alone would not eliminate the local transmission of COVID-19, and there is a risk of a second wave epidemics. Quarantine the second-layer close contacts can obviously reduce the size of outbreak. Moreover, to effectively eliminate the daily new infections in a short time, it is necessary to reduce the individual-to-individual contacts. Interpretation: IBM provides a numerical representation for the local transmission of infectious diseases, the model extends the compartmental models to include individual heterogeneity and the close contacts network. Through model simulation, we quantitatively analysis the transmission patterns of COVID-19 under different control measures. Combinations of self-isolation, quarantine of close contacts, and social distancing would be necessary to block the local transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Funding Statement: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant No.11971023 and No.11871371. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.

As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, signs of “pandemic-policy fatigue” have raised worldwide concerns. But the phenomenon itself is yet to be thoroughly defined, documented, and delved into. Based on self-reported behaviours from samples of 238,797 respondents, representative of the populations of 14 countries, as well as global mobility and policy data, we systematically examine the prevalence and shape of people’s alleged gradual reduction in adherence to governments’ protective-behaviour policies against COVID-19. Our results show that from March through December 2020, pandemic-policy fatigue was empirically meaningful and geographically widespread. It emerged for high-cost and sensitising behaviours (physical distancing) but not for low-cost and habituating ones (mask wearing), and was less intense among retired people, people with chronic diseases, and in countries with high interpersonal trust. Particularly due to fatigue reversal patterns in high- and upper-middle-income countries, we observe an arch rather than a monotonic decline in global pandemic-policy fatigue.

Digital communication became the saving backbone of human connection during social distancing lockdowns of COVID-19. At the same time, the intensification of human dependency on its digital tools also revealed many aspects of the downsides of algorithmically-mediated communication. Just as the lack of an easy exit strategy for the pandemic has called for the combination of solutions, a more sustainable relationship with our algorithms will require complementary measures. Top-down and bottom-up. It will require changes in the industry and thoughtful regulation. It will require technological innovation and personal responsibility in a collective action of ‘social media distancing.’ It does not mean to stop algorithmic interactions, but to sanitize them. As with a necessary trip to the grocery store during lockdowns, it becomes important to increase awareness that everyone is a potential victim and vector of diffusion for digital harms. In this seven-chapter article, we ask how to seize the current situation to develop a more healthy relationship with our digital algorithms?

Coping and recovery capabilities in natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes, floods) depend to a large part on social resilience. Prior disaster studies, which frequently examine natural disasters, suggest a variety of indicators to assess the social resilience of a region or country. In this paper, we discuss whether the most common disaster-related social resilience indicators like social cohesion and support can meaningfully capture social resilience in pandemics. Pandemic crises typically comprise physical distancing and other social restrictions. Hence, social cohesion and support must take other forms than is known from natural disasters. We suggest pandemic-tailored social resilience indicators and an overall social resilience indicator (SRI) that can help to assess social resilience during pandemic crises. Applying the suggested set of indicators to a sample of 1,500 residents surveyed in Switzerland during the summer 2020 phase of the COVID-19 crisis reveals low levels of social support and community engagement. On the other hand, the willingness to help others seems to be high. The study concludes with recommendations on how to strengthen social resilience in pandemic crises.

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 started in Wuhan, China, and is now a pandemic. An understanding of the prevalence and contagiousness of the disease, and of whether the strategies used to curb it to date have been successful, is important to implement future containment measures. A widely used way to break down the spread of SARS-CoV-2, as part of the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), is to adopt strong social distancing policies. Cogne (Italy) is an isolated alpine village served by a single access road: a rare and ideal socio-geographic framework for studying the dynamics of viral shedding. The Municipality of Cogne imposed strict lockdown rules from March 4, 2020 up to May 18, 2020. This first wave of the pandemic impressed by the extremely low impact of the SARS-CoV-2 on the inhabitants. Starting from October 2020 up to the end of December, when the second wave hit Italy and Cogne territory, heavier effects were observed. In order to cast light on the effectiveness of the adopted strategy 74,5% of the local population underwent a blood screening to detect IgM and IgG antibodies and after six months all the people tested positive were again investigated to establish the longitudinal changes in antibodies level. The main topic of the present observational study is the comparison of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the March 2020 lockdown vs the October 2020 lockdown. Emphasis is put on the usefulness of the early and strict lockdown tool to contain the pandemic. Moreover a rare and interesting case of secondary infection has been identified and here reported. Funding Statement: The project was budgeted under the contract COGNE-COVID by the Municipality of Cogne. The funder granted access at acquisition of the results of serological tests and nasopharyngeal swabs carried out in Cogne between March and December 2020, but played no part in the design, data analysis and writing. The two authors are responsible for the decision to submit for publication. Declaration of Interests: Both authors have no conflict of interest to disclose. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Aosta Valley (I). All experimental and sensible data treatment were performed in agreement with the relevant guidelines and regulations issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE Recommendations).

This paper studies the interaction between epidemiological dynamics and the dynamics of economic activity in a simple model in the structuralist/post-Keynesian tradition. On the one hand, rising economic activity increases the contact rate and therefore the probability of exposure to a virus. On the other hand, rising infection lowers economic activity through both supply and demand channels. The resulting framework is well-suited for policy analysis through numerical exercises. We show that, first, laissez-faire gives rise to sharp fluctuations in activity and infections before herd immunity is achieved. Second, absent any restrictions on economic activity, physical distancing measures have rather limited mitigating effects. Third, lockdowns are effective, especially at reducing death rates while buying time before a vaccine is widely rolled out, at the cost of a slightly more pronounced downturn in economic activity compared with alternative policies. This casts some doubt on the so-called “lives versus livelihood” policy trade-off. However, we also highlight the importance of policies aimed at mitigating the effects of the epidemic on workers’ income.

Background : Little is known about the views of adolescents returning to secondary school during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In September 2020, Public Health England (PHE) recruited staff and students in secondary schools to provide nasal swabs, oral fluid and blood samples for SARS-CoV-2 infection and antibody testing. Students aged 11-18 years in five London schools completed a short questionnaire about their perception of the pandemic, returning to school, risk to themselves and to others and infection control measures, and participating in school testing. Results: A questionnaire was completed by 64% (297/462) participants. Students were generally not anxious at all (19.7%; 58/294) or not really anxious (40.0%, 114/295) about returning to school, although 5.4% (n=16/295) were extremely nervous. Most students were very worried about transmitting the virus to their family (60.2%; 177/294) rather than other students (22.0%; 65/296) or school staff (19.3%; 57/296), or catching the infection themselves (12.5%; 37/296). Students better maintained physical distancing in the presence of school staff (84.6%; 247/292) and in public places (79.5%; 233/293) but not when with other students (46.8%; 137/293) or friends (40.8%; 120/294). A greater proportion of younger students (school years 7-9) reported not being anxious at all than 16-18 year olds (47/174 [27.0%] vs 3/63 [4.8%]; p=0.001). They were also less likely to adhere to physical distancing and wearing face masks. Most students reported positive experiences with testing in schools, with 92.3% (262/284) agreeing to have another blood test in future visits. Conclusions: Younger students were less concerned about catching and transmitting SARS-CoV-2 and were less likely to adhere to protective measures. Greater awareness of the potential risks of COVID-19 transmission between secondary school students potentially leading to increased risk of infection in their teachers and their household members may increase adherence to infection control measures within and outside schools.

The notion of collusion is commonly understood as serving a jurisdictional function, determining the scope of Article 101(1) TFEU widely and not prejudging the substantive analysis of a restriction of competition. Hence, it would only be limited by the definition of agreements, decision by an association of undertakings, and concerted practices. This study argues that there is no such limit insofar as the classification as a particular form of collusion is irrelevant. Collusion is instead limited by its characterisation as coordination, represented in the requirements of a single continuous infringement of contributing to common objectives and knowledge of the conduct of the parties. The study also argues that collusion is further subject to substantive limits, notably those fleshed out as the principle of independence of economic action also applying to restrictions of competition. These limits explain why coordination such as oligopolistic alignment, public distancing, and peripheral facilitation is not caught by Article 101(1) TFEU.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed enormous adversity worldwide. Public health guidelines have been a first line of defense but rely on compliance with evolving recommendations and restrictions. This study sought to characterize adherence to and perceptions of public health guidelines over a one-year timeframe during the pandemic. Methods: Participants were 1435 community adults in Ontario who completed up to five assessments (April 2020; July 2020; October 2020; January 2021; and April 2021; 92% retention). Participants were assessed for adherence to government protocols and perceptions of government response (importance, compliance, and effectiveness). Analyses used general linear mixed-effects regression modelling of overall changes by time and differences based on age, and sex. Findings: Over time, participants reported high or increasing engagement in public health guidelines, including physical distancing, restricting activity, and masking. In contrast, participants exhibited notable reductions in importance and compliance, with evidence of more negative changes in younger participants. Most dramatically, participants reported a substantial reduction in perceived government effectiveness, from predominantly positive perceptions to predominantly negative perceptions. Interpretation: These results illuminate evolving trends in public health compliance and perceptions over the course of the pandemic in Canada, revealing the malleability of public perceptions of public health recommendations and government effectiveness. Funding: This research was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: The study’s procedures were reviewed and approved by the Hamilton Research Ethics Board (Protocol #4699).

Background: India was quick to implement a complete lockdown to prevent the transmission of the novel coronavirus, which had a significant impact on the migrant labourers. The Government responded quickly to the situation by providing them food and shelter. However, there is absence of scientifically collected data regarding the knowledge, practice and perception of the migrant labourers related to the crisis from Delhi, India. The present survey was conducted to assess the knowledge, practice and perception of the migrant labourers and their family members about COVID-19 pandemic and sudden lockdown. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted by the department of Geriatric Medicine, AIIMS, New Delhi in association with Healthy Aging India, a non-profit organization registered under the Indian Societies Act, 1860, from 1 May to 30 June 2020, after receiving ethical clearance from AIIMS (IEC/411/4/2020). Data was collected from the migrant labourers living in urban slums using qualitative probes and quantitative questionnaires. Findings: The survey included 220 respondents with their mean age as 31.99 ± 10.81 years. The majority were well informed about the importance of wearing masks (90.9%) and maintaining physical distancing 90.45%. While 91.36% agreed that it was important to avoid going out of their home, 88.18% knew that every individual could be a potential source of infection. As per the qualitative response, the respondents were bothered about food, employment and returning to their native places. Interpretation: This survey emphasized the need of community engagement and participation in handling the pandemic. Funding Statement: No funding was received for this survey. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: Clearance from the institute ethics committee, was obtained prior to the commencement of the study (IEC/411/4/2020).

Traditionally, the legal field has lagged behind others in its innovative uses of technology to serve the interests of justice. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the physical distancing measures adopted to curtail the spread of coronavirus presented challenged conventional resources and practices used in international courts and tribunals. In response, the pandemic forced international courts and tribunals to follow suit, and determine the role that digital resources could play in the realms of court proceedings and evidence collection. This Article observes the adaptations international courts and tribunals, including the ICC, IRMCT, STL, and the ECCC, have adopted since March 2020 to continue their mandate during the pandemic, as well as their increased reliance upon digital tools that emerged prior to the pandemic, with a focus on virtual proceedings and digital evidence. The Article further considers the potential longevity of this increased use of digital resources in the field of international criminal law, and how the development of these tools can serve the interests of transitional justice by offering cost-saving solutions to courts, strengthening investigations and prosecutions, and increasing access to international criminal proceedings.

Despite well-documented benefits of wearing a mask to reduce COVID-19 transmission, widespread opposition to mandating mask-wearing persists. Both our game-theoretic model and our unique survey dataset point to heterogeneity in the perceived benefits and perceived costs of mask-wearing. Young, healthy, Canadian-born adult males who are politically conservative or without a college education are all more likely to oppose mandatory mask laws, as are individuals who do not take climate change seriously and who express less trust in doctors and in elected officials. Political conservatives disproportionately cite not wanting to live in fear and infringements on personal freedoms as reasons for not wearing masks. Our findings cannot be explained by individuals who substitute physical distancing for mask-wearing. We show that these two precautionary measures are complements.

Voluntary physical distancing is essential for preventing the spread of COVID-19. We assessed the role of political partisanship in individuals' compliance with physical distancing recommendations of political leaders using data on mobility from a sample of mobile phones in 3,100 counties in the United States during March 2020, county-level partisan preferences, information about the political affiliation of state governors, and the timing of their communications about COVID-19 prevention. Regression analyses examined how political preferences influenced the association between governors' COVID-19 communications and residents' mobility patterns. Governors' recommendations for residents to stay at home preceded stay-at-home orders and led to a significant reduction in mobility that was comparable to the effect of the orders themselves. Effects were larger in Democratic- than in Republican-leaning counties, a pattern more pronounced under Republican governors. Democratic-leaning counties also responded more strongly to recommendations from Republican than from Democratic governors. Political partisanship influences citizens' decisions to voluntarily engage in physical distancing in response to communications by their governor.

This study investigated and analyzed the prevalence and presence of indirectness markers in Korean and Persian English Essays. The researchers analyzed the prevalence of the indirectness markers as a set of politeness strategies employed by the Korean and Persian university bound students in their English compositions. Furthermore, the researchers espoused the Politeness Strategies Theory proposed by Brown and Levinson as framework in the analysis of the indirectness markers in the texts. In the analysis of the English essays, it was found out that there were seven (7) categories of indirectness markers evident in the essays. The Persian English writers displayed a noticeable evidence of repetition and vagueness and ambiguity in their essays while the Korean counterparts on point-of-view distancing. The presence of these indirectness markers in their writing are attributed to socio-cultural factors, such as Persians have the tendency to be literary in their writing while the Koreans, prose-oriented resulting to lengthy descriptive accounts and indirectness. The results and findings of the study could be beneficial to English writing pedagogy in an English as Second Language (ESL) context.

We study the evolution of social distancing behaviors across the U.S. on the number and density of individuals in public places and businesses, and show that the latter has decreased significantly less than overall foot traffic. Breaking this effect down by category of place, we find a significantly large gap caused by sustained higher relative density in visits to religious places, and in particular due to differential drop-off in visits by destination size: physically larger religious places experienced a much larger drop-off in visits than smaller, leading to a comparatively higher density of people relative to the overall visits change. Inspecting this effect across regions, we find that this phenomenon is present to some degree in almost all states, but appears to be much smaller in Sun Belt states, such as Florida.

Objectives: At the time of COVID-19 and the control measures emphasizing physical distancing and staying at home, social isolation of older persons is of concern. A possible approach to address this is through the use of technology by older persons, in particular internet-based communication methods, to maintain social connections. In order to help inform such approaches, we explore pre-COVID-19 differences in the risk of social isolation, regular use of devices that enable internet access and use of technology for social connections across subgroups of older persons in Singapore. Methods: We analyze data from Transitions in Health, Employment, Social Engagement and Intergenerational Transfers in Singapore Study, a national study of older persons, collected in 2019. Results: Older persons at higher ages, those with lower levels of education, in worse health and financially worse off are at a higher risk of social isolation as well as have lower proportions of regular use of devices and technology for social connections. We also find that older persons at risk of social isolation are substantially less likely to use devices and technology for social connections. Discussion: The disparity in the risk of social isolation and the use of devices and technology for social connections among older persons implies older person subgroups whose social connectedness may be disproportionately affected in the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight that concerted, patient, and repeated efforts by the government, family, and older persons themselves may help bridge the disparity in technology use among older persons and make specific recommendations.

This chapter has two interrelated objectives. The first is to critique the developing concept of a ‘distancing device’. This is said to be a legal tool that creates ‘artificial reasoning’ that judges may use to prevent themselves from deciding cases based on personal preferences, such as emotions. This chapter will demonstrate that contemporary neuroscience consistently reveals the integrated nature of emotion, cognition, motivation, and reasoning. Therefore, it is a false metaphor to suggest that judges can be distanced from their emotions merely through the process of reasoning using distancing devices. Consequently, the argument is that they pose no real threat to the emotional realist insight. Given that distancing devices occur in the language of written judgments, my second objective is to outline a linguistic methodology that may be helpful to researchers exploring judicial displays of emotion in written language. No claim is made that this methodology is totalising and comprehensive, but it will nevertheless assist researchers to identify and analyse judicial emotion displays in written discourse.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how effective government policies are in implementing physical distancing in Bali. The survey was conducted to collect data using an online questionnaire by 109 people of different backgrounds and ages. After analyzing the data, the overall conclusion concludes that the appeal for physical distancing did not significantly affect several activities that could predictably increase the transmission of COVID-19 in Bali. On the same page, the COVID-19 outbreak felt by respondents has damaged their jobs in Bali, which is dominated by the tourism sector. It appears that there are two contradictions between physical distancing calls that are viewed as interfering with respondents' work activities. On the other hand, it is predicted that the outbreak of COVID-19 will increase if physical distancing is not performed, which is worse. This study recommended containing the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Human health and wellbeing is the need of the hour in the 21st century for current and future mankind. Due to the entry of the various new diseases like bacterial infections, viruses, and irrespective of seasons of witnessing about the pandemics are affecting the healthy lifestyle. Many diseases are evolving due to human lifestyle changes and by damage caused to the ecosystem resulting from diseases creating a pandemic. This causes damage to the family indirectly affects the contribution to the economy. The whole world is suffering in the provision of public healthcare and wellbeing. Lack of health infrastructure and medical professionals proportionate to the country population is one of the key issues. Conventionally a patient in case of health issues needs to take a prior appointment and go to the doctor's clinic or hospital location for getting health consultation and treatment. The current Conventional approach in our busy lifestyles is very time-consuming. A patient has to visit multiple times. This has other implications to the patient visiting clinics, hospitals were maintaining physical distancing is a challenge during these pandemic times when experiencing contagious infections, human transmission diseases are to address the above limitations there is a strong need for quicker, effective, and an organized platform between doctor and patient. This platform enables faster health consultation for the patients by effective time management. The necessity is the origin of new inventions and technologies our focus area in this paper will enable a digital platform enabling doctors and patients to a consultation on the web with a sophisticated model. The term as telemedicine is frequently used over the videoconferencing in the current theme. Although there are various platforms which have features of video conference are very specific customized according to the need of the doctor. This paper focuses on the development of a telemedicine video conferencing system that allows real-time remote monitoring of patients using the Internet and provides the doctors and consultants with the ability to discuss using both audio and video to provide the best medical care at low cost.

We document a causal effect of the conservative Fox News Channel in the USA on physical distancing during COVID-19 pandemic. We measure county-level mobility covering all US states and District of Columbia produced by GPS pings to 15–17 million smartphones and zip-code-level mobility using Facebook location data. Using the historical position of Fox News Channel in the cable lineup as the source of exogenous variation, we show that increased exposure to Fox News led to a smaller reduction in distance traveled and a smaller increase in the probability of staying home after the national emergency declaration in the USA. Our results show that slanted media can have a harmful effect on containment efforts during a pandemic by affecting people’s behavior.

Background: The role of schools and children in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remains to be determined. Following a first wave in spring and gradual easing of lockdown, Luxembourg experienced an early second epidemic wave before the start of summer school holidays on 15th July. This provided the opportunity to study the role of school-age children and school settings in SARS-CoV-2 transmission. More specifically, we compared the incidence in school-age children, teachers and the general working population, and estimated the number of secondary transmissions occurring at schools using contact tracing data. Findings: While SARS-CoV-2 incidence was much higher in adults aged 20 and above than in children aged 0 to 19 during the first wave in spring, no significant difference was found during the second wave in early summer. The incidence during the second wave was similar for pupils, teachers and the general working population. Based on a total of 424 reported confirmed COVID-19 cases in school-age children and teachers, we estimate that 179 index cases caused 49 secondary transmissions in schools. While some small clusters of mainly student-to-student transmission within the same class were identified, we did not observe any large outbreaks with multiple generations of infection. Interpretation: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within Luxembourg schools was limited during the early summer epidemic wave in 2020. Precautionary measures including physical distancing as well as easy access to testing, systematic contact tracing appears to have been successful in mitigating transmission within educational settings. Funding Statement: LV is supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund grant COVID-19/2020- 1/14701707/REBORN, LM is supported by Luxembourg National Research Fund grant COVID19/14863306/PREVID, PW is supported by the European Research Council (ERC-CoG 863664). Declaration of Interests: No competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The Health Directorate has the legal permission to process patient confidential information for national surveillance of communicable diseases in general and contact tracing for the COVID-19 pandemic and individual patient consent is not required.

This Essay explains why model policies proposed or adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that allocate scarce medical resources by using medical evidence to pursue two core goals—saving more lives and saving more years of life—are compatible and consonant with disability law. Disability law, properly understood, permits considering medical evidence about patients’ probability of surviving treatment and the quantity of scarce treatments they will likely use. It also permits prioritizing health workers, and considering patients’ post-treatment life expectancy. These factors, when based on medical evidence and not inaccurate stereotypes, are legal to consider even if they disadvantage some patients with specific disabilities. It then discusses the ethical advantages of triage policies that use medical evidence to save more lives and years of life, which I call “evidence-based triage,” focusing on the benefits of these policies for patients with disabilities. In doing so, I explain why recent critiques err by treating people with disabilities as a monolith, overlooking the political disadvantages of less-visible victims, and treating the social origins of scarcity as a justification for saving fewer lives. Evidence-based triage parallels other policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, like physical distancing and postponement of medical procedures, which may burden patients with specific disabilities or medical conditions but are nevertheless justified because they save more patients.

Background: Mandatory social and physical distancing measures (SPDM) were introduced in the UK on the 23rd March 2020. A multi-tiered surveillance system based on influenza surveillance, was adopted from the early stages of the COVID-19 Epidemic to monitor different stages of disease. We describe how the impact SPDM was detected through each surveillance system and how these systems may be applied to detect increases in COVID-19 activity as SPDM are eased. Methods: Data from national population surveys, web-based indicators, syndromic surveillance, sentinel swabbing, respiratory outbreaks, secondary care admissions, and mortality indicators from the start of the epidemic to Week 20 2020 were used to identify timing of peaks in the indicator relative to the introduction of SPDM. This was compared to median time from symptom onset to different stages of illness or interactions with healthcare services. Results: The impact of SPDM was detected within 1 week through population symptom surveys, web search indicators and through GP sentinel swabbing reported by onset date. There were detectable impacts on syndromic surveillance indicators for difficulty breathing, influenza-like illness and COVID-19 coding at 2, 7 and 12 days respectively. This was followed by hospitalisations and critical care admissions (both 12 days), laboratory positivity (14 days), deaths (17 days) and care home outbreaks (4 weeks). Interpretation: There was a clear impact of SPDM on COVID-19 activity which was detectable within 1 week through community indicators highlighting their importance in early detection of changes in activity. Community swabbing surveillance will be increasingly important as a specific indicator when circulation of seasonal respiratory viruses increases. Funding Statement: There was no specific funding for this report. Declaration of Interests: None declared. Ethics Approval Statement: The surveillance collections included here are approved as Health Protection, under Regulation 3 of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002.

To curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), social distancing and lockdown have been used in the past months. Using province-level geolocation data from Italy, we document that political belief can potentially limit the effectiveness of government distancing orders. Residents in provinces leaning towards extreme right-wing party show a lower reduction in social distancing. We also find that, during the Italian lockdown, in provinces with a high protest votes, social distancing order were disregarded. On the contrary in provinces were there is a higher political support for the current political legislation there were a higher social distancing compliance. These results are robust to controlling for other factors including time, geography, local COVID-19 cases and deaths, family characteristics, and healthcare hospital beds as well as other geo-economical provinces characteristics. Our research shows that bipartisan support as well as national responsibility are essential in order to efficiently implement social distancing. We also suggest that partisan politics and discontent with the political class, as measured by protest voting, might greatly affect human health and the economy.

Background: For countries with strong border control and an epidemic that is not yet advanced, there is an opportunity to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 that is causing the COVID-19 pandemic. We show how public health policies and their effects can be modelled to estimate the probability of elimination of SARS-COV-2 under i) strict physical distancing policies implemented in New Zealand and Australia on the 26th and 28th March, respectively, continuing until such time that elimination is achieved; and ii) the same policy, but with physical distancing decaying over 60 days to 26th and 28th of May. Methods: We developed an agent-based SEIR model that simulated key aspects of both country’s populations, disease, spatial and behavioural dynamics, as well as the mechanism and effect of public health policy responses on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Findings: Under maintained strong physical distancing, we estimated a median elimination date of July 12th for Australia (95% SI: June 5th to August 28th) and June 3rd for New Zealand (95% SI May 4th to June 27th). A 90% probability of elimination is achievable in Australia on August 17th (95% SI: August 8th – August 30th) and on June 14th (95% SI: June 17th – June 29th) in New Zealand. However, under our scenario of decaying adherence to physical distancing from implementation to 60 days post restrictions, a rebound in SARS-CoV-2 infections (i.e., a second wave) was likely in Australia and possibly in New Zealand. At 100 days, the probability of elimination was reduced to 10% in Australia and 68% in New Zealand. Interpretation: The findings suggest that with the effective implementation and maintenance of public health policies limiting physical interaction, it was possible to estimate a pattern the elimination of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in both countries. It seems highly likely NZ will have successfully eliminated as of 8 June, but not in Australia; the latter is consistent with our lower probabilities that modelled less stringent restrictions applied in Australia.

This brief commentary is aimed at sharing concise messages which might have an effect in augmenting the general public’s adherence to lock-down measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three factors which are likely to underlie the choice of adhering to these norms, will be discussed, including empathy, positive mood and social influence. The commentary includes a series of brief suggestions for different actors involved in promoting adherence to regulations aimed at reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the population, including media, decision makers and individuals from the general public. Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

The unprecedented bioevent disaster of the pandemic outbreak COVID-19 stretches and tests the limits of leadership readiness worldwide Organizations around the world are striving to operate effectively into the crisis context by exploiting the most valuable investment, that is the human capital along with the intra-knowledge framework system Many of the current healthcare systems and organizations are ruled over hierarchical conceptualizations governed by order and rules, thereby agonize to achieve immediate respond to the complex system pressures Although, the search was not exhaustive, it is hoped that it contributes as a comprehensive resource for leadership processes in crisis and meta-crisis organizational context The literature review was conducted in ILO databases, Cochrane library and Scopus in March - May 2020 The aim of this study is to create awareness of why, the way societies respond to protect health, to adapt in shifted work conditions and to stay resilient throughout the crisis, is a process that encapsulates strong leadership and it is thereafter a knowledge management for all kind of organizations The enforcement of human-to-human physical distancing did not block down in relationships, learning, experiencing, cooperating and social bonding within the organizations and throughout the society members Leadership readiness is formed by human connectivity and their exchanged knowledge The current crisis challenges the existing hierarchical systems and constitutes an opportunity for the leaders and members of organizations to view leadership as a process that will strengthen their relationships and leverage shared knowledge in order to spawn progress and thus enhance leadership readiness, along with creating means of preserving health © 2020 Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited All rights reserved

Background: Physical distancing is touted worldwide as the best strategy to curb the progression of the current COVID-19 pandemic, yet, its efficacy has never been direct or adequately assessed. Thus, the present study sought to investigate the relationship between physical distancing and the number of future COVID-19 deaths in Brazil. Methods: The percentage of individuals who stayed within 450 meters from their residence on a given day based on mobile phone location data (Social Isolation Index) and the number of hours a day that individuals spent in their residence were both obtained from public databases provided by private companies (respectively, In Loco© and Google©). The number of COVID-19 deaths that occurred each day was obtained through official public reports from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Statistical analysis was performed to identify how levels of physical distancing related to the number of COVID-19 deaths 01 to 51 days later. A comparison was also made between the observed number of deaths and extrapolations, based on the SIR model, from before the implementation of restrictive measures to increase physical distancing. Results: The degree of physical distancing at a given date showed a strong positive Spearman correlation to the number of COVID-19 deaths 40 days later (Rho=.75, p

Executive Summary Contact tracing is essential to controlling the spread of infectious disease and plays a central role in plans to safely loosen COVID-19 physical distancing measures and begin to reopen the economy. Contact tracing apps, used in conjunction with established human contact tracing methods, could serve as part of Canada’s “test, trace, and isolate” strategy. In this brief, we consider the potential benefits of using contract tracing apps to identify people who have been exposed to COVID-19, as well as the limitations of using this technology. We also consider the privacy implications of different app design choices. Finally, we consider how the privacy impacts of contact tracing apps could be evaluated under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which provides a framework for balancing competing rights and interests. We argue that so long as apps are carefully constructed and the information they reveal is appropriately safeguarded, tracing apps may have a role to play in the response of a free and democratic society to the Covid 19 pandemic. 1. Improving the Efficiency of Human Contact Tracing: The public health goal of a contact tracing app should be to integrate with human contact tracing and make it more efficient rather than replace it. We need to keep humans in the loop to ensure accuracy and to maintain the important social functions of contact tracing, which includes educating people about risks and helping them access social supports. 2. Privacy Choices: Currently, the most privacy-protective design for contact tracing apps makes use of proximity data (via Bluetooth) through a decentralized design. This method is receiving significant technical support from Apple and Google. However, this method fails to integrate with the human contact tracing system. Other options, such as the use of location logs or a centralized registration system, are more aligned with the public health goal of integration with human contact tracing but raise additional privacy questions. In addition to the constitutional questions raised by these privacy choices, there are two important considerations. First, social trust is important. If individuals do not feel comfortable with using a particular contact tracing app there will not be the large-scale uptake needed to make these an effective addition to human contact tracing. Second, due to various technical challenges, it is difficult to make effective contact tracing apps utilizing proximity data unless one uses the method supported by Apple and Google. However, Google and Apple prohibit app developers both from utilizing centralized methods and from utilizing location data. 3. Constitutional Balancing: Our privacy commissioners have discussed the need to assess these privacy choices according to the principles of necessity and proportionality. The Canadian Charter provides an important framework for thinking about these principles as it provides us with a framework for how to balance rights and interests in a free and democratic society. The Charter requires that we choose the most privacy-protective app design that meets the public health goal, so long as the benefits of meeting this goal outweigh its deleterious effects on privacy. This requires a reasonable belief in the efficacy of such an app. It also requires an assessment of the nature of the benefits, which are not just the economic benefits of reopening the economy. The currently prevailing restrictions on movement and work are themselves limitations of basic rights and liberties. Individuals who self-isolate in situations of poverty, precarious housing, mental health challenges, abusive relationships, or other vulnerabilities face challenges that affect their security of the person. There are also broader effects on equality and human flourishing. If contact tracing, enhanced by an app, reduces the need for restrictions in the form of self-isolation, it promotes other Charter rights and values (e.g., security of the person) which must be balanced against the potential infringement of privacy rights.

Experimental and field studies of repeated decisions document high sensitivity to the probability of regret; experience leads people to underweight rare risks and select the actions that provide the best outcomes in most cases. We clarify the implications of this pattern to policies designed to combat the spread of coronavirus. Our analysis questions the value of policies that encourage adherence to physical distancing guidelines without continuous enforcement. Yet, it highlights the potential of policies that encourage the use of voluntary health code applications, which estimate the risk a person is infectious. To be effective, these applications should gently enforce physical distancing, and the policies should ensure that the common experience from using the applications is better than the common experience from not using them.

Background: Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has become one of the major causes of death. Its prevention and control have been challenging for every nation. Public understanding and practice play vital roles in its containment. This study aimed at identifying public understanding and response to COVID-19 in Nepal. Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in Nepal among 3,582 adults through an online, self-administered questionnaire shared via Viber group created by Ministry of Health and Population. The responses were analyzed and predictors of response studied. Findings: Most of the participants were male (73·2%), with mean age 32·4 years. Majority were married (54·2%) and had knowledge about transmission and symptoms of COVID-19.Almost all (99·6%) stated that hand washing/sanitizing can prevent its transmission. However, myths about prevention like drinking hot water (78·9%), gargling (67·6%), avoiding imports (67·6%), distancing from pets (65·6%), and warm showers (40%) were prevalent. Most of them (98%) used mask. The average knowledge score was 9·74±1·59 out of 12, attitude score 7·09±0·77 out of 8, and practice score 2·70±0·53 out of 3.Majority of the total respondents supported the government’s efforts but were facing problems due to lockdown like difficulty getting daily consumables, increased levels of mental illnesses due to confinement, and facing increased economic burdens. Interpretation: From the findings summarized above, we can infer that government interventions should focus on minimizing the public’s difficulties due to lockdown while enforcing prevention strategies via raising awareness about COVID-19. Funding Statement: This study was funded by the Government of Nepal. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest in the study. Ethics Approval Statement: Ethical approval for research was obtained from the Ethical Review Board at Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC). Collaboration with MoHP was done to deploy the questionnaire in its Viber Group. We obtained an informed consent from all the participants and anonymity of the participants was maintained throughout the study.

The escalation of the COVID-19 (corona virus) has caused economic crisis to majority countries in the world. Especially this pandemic situation damaged education sector very badly. Students lost their valuable learning time in schools. If the government reopens the institutions also, the impact of this virus will be more unless the students will follow the physical distancing and mask wearing. We designed an Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial intelligence based paradigm that makes use of object detection based on convolution neural networks (CNN) to detect the covid symptoms people by measuring temperature and to maintain physical distance between students in Class room. In previous algorithms, researchers used Opencv algorithm to measure the distance between two persons. Due to overlapping in images captured by camera, the efficiency of this algorithm is very less. In this algorithm we used stereoscopic distance measurement algorithm to overcome this problem. Our system will be useful to maintain physical distance between people, and it gives best efficiency compare to previous algorithms.

Purpose: It is too early to make judgments referring to COVID-19 impressions on various aspects of the economy. However, SMEs in Bangladesh have already been experiencing the devastating and ruthless impact as such the motivation of the study to develop insight relating to what is experiencing by SMEs and how they are managing. Methodology– This study used a descriptive analysis method of primary and secondary data obtained directly both from field survey and from various publication sources Findings: These study findings might assist in formulating the strategic decision focusing on SME's revival and regrowth after the pandemic become stable. Study findings also utterly established the fact i.e. government should invest considerable effects for mobilization and efficient reallocation of resources through collaboration of both Banks and nonbanks financial instructions. Else, unemployment, decline growth speed, and social insecurity might appear and prevail in the long run. Research limitations – This study is focused on the Dhaka city area during the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak with a policy of social distancing and physical distancing. Originality– This is the first study of exploring and investigating the effects of the current pandemic on SMEs concentrating on Dhaka city. It is noteworthy that SMEs in Bangladesh is predominantly located in the major city area, Dhaka is one of them.

Beliefs about the arrival time of a vaccine have a large effect on optimal social distancing in an SIR model, though the relationship is complex. A higher mean vaccine arrival time can increase or decrease optimal distancing depending on assumptions. We analytically demonstrate two channels that explain the ambiguity. We use a quantitative model that allows for targeted policy across risk groups to evaluate recent proposals for COVID-19 to let the young go and protect the old. If the mean vaccine arrival time is two years, the proposal might be loosely justified, but it is catastrophic if mean arrival is six months—520, 000 more old die, 380, 000 more young die, and regret exceeds US$3 trillion. The welfare gains from the targeted policy are also highly sensitive to vaccine arrival beliefs.

Dealing with pandemics, such as the recent COVID-19 virus, has highlighted the critical role of social distancing to avoid contagion and deaths. New technologies that allow replacing in-person for at-distance activities have blurred the mapping between social and economic distancing. In this paper we model how individuals react to social distancing guidelines by changing their network of economic relations, affecting total output, wealth inequality, and long-term growth.

This paper is motivated by the idea of relative deprivation of rural residents in critical infrastructures according to the urban bias theory. In this period of physical distancing, these critical infrastructures are relied upon to sustain the learning experiences of school children through diverse means of home learning. This paper estimates the relative intensity of home learning between the urban and rural areas under the hypothesis that public infrastructural deficits might depress the diversity of learning experiences provided to school age children in the rural areas. Standard and two stage estimations identify up to 75 percent learning advantage in favour of children in the urban areas. The UN's SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. However, based on this finding, this gaol may not be achieved unless critical infrastructural deficits in the rural areas of developing countries are addressed. Hence, there is need for political commitments towards upgrading infrastructural facilities in the rural areas as a critical step towards achieving this and many other development gaols. In addition, the identified learning gap should be a critical consideration in national post COVID-19 educational policies.

COVID-19 has affected the global economy in such a way that the Indian government is only concerned with saving the lives of is people while no emphasis is being laid on replenishing the economic resources and condition of this country. The distorted situation that has arisen due to the migration of crores of people from one state to another and the loss of employment of many a people is one of the darkest periods in the history of mankind. The lockdown system has taught people to be precautions and self-reliant by adopting the preventive distancing strategy while equally alarming issue such as stagnant industries and businesses isn’t being attended to. The so called assurances of relief packages is merely a ‘mirage-in-desert’ for the poor ; without proper implementation, such promises are only sugar-coated words which seek to secure the vote of these devastated and underprivileged people. The lockdown was declared in haste, followed by an abrupt shut down of the industries shut down. With zero production activities, it seems impractical how the government seeks to ensure minimum wages to all the people it has thrust in mouth-widening chaos. Briefly stating, multifold planning is required to extend desired help to the hands who contribute in production, manufacturing and distribution. Besides, equal considerations for health and hygiene, employment, industrial development and market sustainability are expected to assure holistic development and economic growth.

Background: On March 24, India ordered a 3-week nationwide lockdown in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. While the lockdown has been effective, our model suggests that completely ending the lockdown after three weeks could have considerable adverse public health ramifications. We extend our individual-level model for COVID-19 transmission to study the disease dynamics in India at the state level for Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh to estimate the effect of further lockdown policies in each region. Specifically, we test policies which alternate between total lockdown and simple physical distancing to find "middle ground" policies that can provide social and economic relief as well as salutary population-level health effects. Methods: We use an agent-based SEIR model that uses population-specific age distribution, household structure, contact patterns, and comorbidity rates to perform tailored simulations for each region. The model is first calibrated to each region using publicly available COVID-19 death data, then implemented to simulate a range of policies. We also compute the basic reproduction number R0 and case documentation rate for both regions. Results: After the initial lockdown, our simulations demonstrate that even policies that enforce physical distancing while otherwise returning to normal activity could lead to widespread outbreaks in both states. However, "middle ground" policies that alternate weekly between total lockdown and physical distancing may lead to much lower rates of infection while simultaneously permitting some return to normalcy.

We develop an epidemionomic model that jointly analyzes the health and economic responses to the COVID-19 crisis and to the related containment and public health policy measures implemented in Luxembourg and in the Greater Region. The model has a weekly structure and covers the whole year 2020. With a limited number of parameters, the model is calibrated to depict the pre-crisis evolution of the Luxembourg economy, and to match post-lockdown leading economic indicators and industry-specific infection curves. The nowcasting part of our analysis reveals that each week of lockdown reduces national output by about 28% (and annual GDP by 0.54%). A first peak of the infection curve was observed at the very beginning of April. If the lockdown measures had been permanent, annual GDP would have decreased by 22% in 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases would have reached zero around mid-June, and the proportion of recovered people would have reached 1.4% of the population. In an economy heavily relying on skill-intensive services, we show that the role of teleworking has been instrumental to limiting the weekly economic output loss (almost by one half) and the propagation of the virus. In the forecasting part of the analysis, we quantify the epidemiological and economic responses to gradual deconfinement measures under various public health scenarios. If the post-lockdown transmission rates could be kept constant throughout the deconfinement period, restarting all sectors would have huge effects on the economy (limiting the annual GDP loss to about 7%) and no effect on the aggregate infection curve. While it is a good time for lifting containment measures, there is also a risk that increasing the density of employees at the workplace and resuming social activities would induce a rebound in the infection curve. Preventing such a relapse is possible with PCR testing of both national and cross-border workers, and with accompanying measures such as (i) maintaining teleworking practices, (ii) reopening hotels, restaurants and cafes at half of their full capacity or with equivalent physical distancing measures and last but not least, (iii) sustaining distancing measures in social activities. Overall, in our worst-case scenario, combining bi-monthly testing with contact tracing and quarantining measures appear to be a sufficient (perhaps not necessary) policy option in the aftermath of the deconfinement plan.

In response to the pandemic of COVID-19 and in lack of pharmaceutical solutions, many countries have introduced social and physical distancing regulations to contain the transmission of the virus. These measures are effective insofar as they are able to quickly change people’s habits. This is achieved by changing the monetary incentives of rule violators but also by shifting people’s perception regarding the appropriateness of socialization. We studied the effect of introducing, and then lifting, distancing regulations on the perceived norm regarding social encounters. We conducted an online incentivized experiment in France where we elicited the same participants’ perceived norm and social distancing behavior every week for three months. We found that people shifted behavior and norm perception as soon as the government introduced or removed distancing measures. This effect was fast acting and long lasting. This is informative for future interventions, especially in light of a possible COVID-19 recurrence.

At the time of this essay, the COVID 19 virus outbreak had spread to almost the entire world and claimed thousands of lives. Because this virus spreads through individuals to other individuals (through touch, saliva, etc.), so many country in the world simultaneously require their people to apply social distancing, even to physical distancing to inhibit the growth of the COVID 19 virus. This has also hampered the educational activities that exist throughout the world. Not only the activities of educational institutions even to the business world, the world of tourism, and health were affected. In this essay I will discuss the importance of a dynamic organization and digital innovation in the world of education in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic.

The SEIR model of COVID-19 is developed based on the system dynamics approach. Compared with existing models, the model successfully reproduces similar multiple observed outputs such as infected and recovered patients in Italy by July 2020. In doing so, the system dynamics model captures the roles of undocumented cases on the Italian COVID-19 flow. The model also considers two types of measures including behavioral measures and lockdown measures as they are embedded in the model. It is hoped that the model can enhance our understanding of the roles of undocumented cases, so-called asymptomatic cases, and the efficacy of two different policies on the COVID-19 flow. This study concludes that the first policy is important once the number of infected cases is relatively low. However, once the number of infected cases is very high so the society cannot identify infected and disinfected people, the second policy must be applied soon. It is thus this study suggests that relaxed lockdowns lead the second wave of the COVID-19 around the world.

Background: For countries with strong border control and an epidemic that is not yet advanced, there is an opportunity to eliminate community transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We show how public health policies and their effects can be modelled to estimate the likely progression of SARS-COV-2 under i) strict physical distancing policies implemented in New Zealand and Australia on the 26 th and 28 th March, 2020 respectively, and ii) from September 1st, 2020 in Victoria, Australia as this state planned its exit from a significant second wave of infections. Methods: We developed a dynamic, public health policy model using an agent-based framework that simulated key aspects of both country’s populations, disease, spatial and behavioural dynamics, as well as the mechanism and effect of public health policy responses on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We demonstrate the model’s development and application through the first wave of infections in New Zealand, and first and second wave of infections experienced in Australia. Findings: Under maintained strong physical distancing, we originally estimated a median elimination date of July 12th for Australia (95% SI: June 5th to August 28th) and June 3rd for New Zealand (95% SI May 4th to June 27th). We estimated a 90% probability of elimination was achievable in Australia on August 17th (95% SI: August 8th – August 30th) and on June 14th (95% SI: June 17th – June 29th) in New Zealand. However, under our scenario of decaying adherence to physical distancing from implementation to 60 days post restrictions, we predicted a resurgence in SARS-CoV-2 infections (i.e., a second wave) was likely in Australia and possibly in New Zealand. At 100 days, the probability of elimination was reduced to 10% in Australia and 68% in New Zealand. Having demonstrated the utility of our model above, the subsequent adaptation of the model in Victoria, Australia estimated that a threshold of less than 5 new cases per day over 14 days (from a peak of ~500 in August) could be achieved on or around the 17th of October. This would enable Victoria to move to, and sustain, lower levels of restrictions to movement and trade than had been possible under its strict lockdown policy. Interpretation: The findings suggest that during Australia and NZ’s first wave of infections, elimination of community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in both countries through effective implementation and maintenance of public health interventions was possible. Subsequently, the structure and function of the agent-based policy model developed to analyse the effect of policies during wave 1 has been instrumental in supporting decision-making among public health authorities during Australia’s current second wave of infections. Funding Statement: MS is funded by a NHMRC Fellowship (APP1136250), JT is funded by an ARC DECRA Fellowship (DE180101411). Declaration of Interests: None to declare.

Different authorities have been urging to practice ‘social distancing’ and/or ‘physical distancing’; and also suggesting different measures for distancing to slowing spread of novel corona virus (2019-nCoV). I describe both the phenomena ‘physical and social distancing’ in socio-psycho and political context and discuss the implications. I highlight ‘distance society’, social presence, importance of media and technologies; and media pedagogy. The findings show that authorities should use the terminology physical distancing instead of social distancing; and should encourage social unity — solidarity, responsibility, cooperation — and social closeness while practicing ‘physical distancing’.

As institutions of higher education and financial aid and wellness offices are working through COVID-19, professionals are delivering digital communication across multimedia more rapidly than ever. Although student-focused communication is critical, ensuring that all people have equal access to information is of paramount importance during this crisis. The Americans with Disabilities Act holds Title IV institutions of higher education accountable for communicating equitably with people with disabilities, many of whom do not enjoy the privilege of physical distancing. As a result, institutions of higher education must practice web accessible communication to ensure all stakeholders access COVID-19 related communication equitable, complying with ADA and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This webinar will detail ADA-focused web accessibility guidelines, provide free software and resources, and outline best practices for practitioners looking to communicate in the most technologically equitable way possible.

This paper develops and implements a method to monetize the impact of moderate social distancing on deaths from COVID-19. Using the Ferguson et al. (2020) simulation model of COVID-19’s spread and mortality impacts in the United States, we project that 3-4 months of moderate distancing beginning in late March 2020 would save 1.7 million lives by October 1. Of the lives saved, 630,000 are due to avoided overwhelming of hospital intensive care units. Using the projected age-specific reductions in death and age-varying estimates of the United States Government’s value of a statistical life, we find that the mortality benefits of social distancing are about $8 trillion or $60,000 per US household. Roughly 90% of the monetized benefits are projected to accrue to people age 50 or older. Overall, the analysis suggests that social distancing initiatives and policies in response to the COVID-19 epidemic have substantial economic benefits.